Syed was portrayed as the all-American teenager despite being a conservative Muslim. But that is only what was seen on the surface. Syed kept his relationship with Lee a secret, drank, smoked, had sex, and even did weed with his friend Jay. His story bears a shocking resemblance to that of the Preppy Killer of 1986 . Robert Chambers at age 19 was found guilty of killing the woman he dated, Jennifer Levin, in New York City’s Central Park. Chambers was dubbed the Preppy Killer because of his model looks and the button down shirts he wore. The prosecutor in the case, Linda Fairstein said, “He looked like a male model, people treated him like a — like he was a graduate of — an Ivy League college and had this prep school background. And yet, in fact, his days were really spent with the underbelly of New York drug life.” No one could believe that Chambers was guilty of killing Levin based on the person he showed to society, but underneath he was someone completely different, just like Syed. Syed hid his true life from his conservative Muslim family because he was a teen and all teens lie according to Chaudry. But it makes me think, what else could he be hiding?

Syed and Asia McLean apparently had a 15-20 minute conversation during the time Lee was murdered, but Syed only remembers the conversation after receiving letters from McLean, “Adnan says now that he does in fact remember seeing Asia in the library”. It seems highly suspect that Syed would not recall a lengthy conversation he had with the girl who could prove to be his alibi until her letters arrived after he was arrested. The timing of the letters and McLean’s refusal to speak to the private investigator that came to her house suggests that maybe McLean didn’t really write the letters. Maybe it was someone else who wanted to provide Syed with the alibi he needed and McLean was just a pawn in the plan. It was interesting to hear how clearly McLean remembered the events of January 13, 1999, but Syed can’t even remember talking to her on that dramatic day his ex-girlfriend was murdered.

Perhaps even more telling is Syed’s calm acceptance. In his recorded calls with Koenig, Syed is not the least bit outraged that his friend Jay would lie about what happened the day Lee was murdered resulting in his conviction. If Syed is innocent, then Jay is lying yet Syed fails to direct anger, or any emotion for that matter, towards Jay. Syed’s demeanor during his calls with Koenig is also not reflective of someone who has been wrongly accused of a crime indicating that he’s resigned himself to the punishment he deserves. When Syed says, “I definitely understand that someone could look at this and say, oh, man, he must be lying”, he seems to acknowledge that the facts of the case point to his guilt. A man who is innocent would loudly defend themselves against such accusations, but a guilty man quietly accepts his fate.

The “Serial” podcast discussing the case of Adnan Syed, who was convicted of murdering his girlfriend when they were both in high school, was intriguing and kept me interested until its conclusion. The host, Sarah Koenig, made valid points which were confirmed first hand by people through the use of their voices on the podcast. I felt that including audio from those who would have knowledge about the issue made the information being presented seem more credible and less biased. I believe that it also broke up the monotony of hearing the narrator’s voice helping to keep me attentive to what the other voices were saying.

However, the integrity of the podcast is challenged even before Koenig begins the investigative portion when she discusses the challenges of memory. Her argument is that teenagers couldn’t remember the events of a given day unless something significant happened, which she proceeds to prove by asking several teens what they did on a day

six weeks ago. I can even remember what I did yesterday in detail, so I know for certain that I wouldn’t remember the details of a day six weeks ago no matter what significant event occurred. Oh sure, I would remember what I did. But details? I don’t think I could. If I can’t remember the details of a given day, why would some other teenager be able to? So, right from the start I had concerns about the accuracy of the information being presented. It made me wonder if the people were actually remembering the events or if they were simply repeating information that had been suggested to them, by either the police to prove guilt or by a family friend to prove innocence.

In my opinion, presenting investigative journalism in the podcast format leaves much to be desired. Without the benefit of people’s expressions, it is difficult to determine if they are telling the truth. Also, how a person behaves when being interviewed, like shifting in their seat to indicate discomfort, is left to a person’s imagination which could introduce bias in the listener’s mind. Sometimes actions speak louder than words and a podcast prevents the audience from knowing a person’s true intentions. I think that investigative journalism should be presented in a format that allows the audience to both see and hear what is being communicated so that they have a better understanding of the issue.

Even though I feel otherwise, there are many people who like investigative journalism presented in this way as evidenced by the popularity of the “Serial” podcast. I think that the popularity of a podcast that investigates the death of a loved one would be difficult for the victim’s family as they are unable to find closure. This podcast is clearly biased towards Syed’s innocence which constantly puts doubt in the minds of the victim’s

family. Is the person who murdered Hae the one being punished or is the real murderer still out there? The popularity of the podcast raises these questions over and over so much so that it is frequently discussed in the media. The family may also feel that the death of their loved one is being used to generate profits for the producer of the podcast. It is in the producers’ best financial interest to present the case in such a way that listeners will continue to follow the series, yet should they be allowed to profit from the family’s tragedy? As a human being, I don’t think so.

Personally, I would rather read over listening to a text such as a podcast so I fail to understand its appeal. Reading gives me the benefit of going back over a sentence or paragraph to fully grasp what the author is saying. In a podcast, you have to stop and hit rewind which not only takes time, but is also frustrating as you might not rewind to the correct spot. That being said, podcasts add a certain amount of interest to the text being presented through the use of audio clips and the narrator’s tone – provided they have some inflection in their voice.

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